Exclusivity agreement for Crystal Palace plans

by Jim Dunton Fri 25 October 2013, 4:33 pm

Bromley Council has agreed an exclusivity deal with Chinese developer ZhongRong Group over its plans to recreate the original Crystal Palace.

The deal gives ZhongRong a 16-month window to work up its detailed plans for the scheme to rebuild the iconic structure originally created for the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park and subsequently relocated to what is now Crystal Palace Park.

Council leader Stephen Carr said the developer’s “complex proposals” would transform the park itself and the wider area too, but would require proper time to refine.

“An absolutely critical part of this will be talking with and listening to local people and the range of representative groups about their views,“ he said.

“This will need to happen before a planning application is submitted and in that sense, these proposals are still at an early stage.”

The exclusivity agreement lasts until February 2015.

The ZhongRong proposal is to rebuild the Crystal Palace on Crystal Palace Park’s “top site” and to restore and upgrade the park to match the spirit and form of the original design.

The new palace would replicate the size and scale of the original - designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, taking into account the current constraints of the site such as the television mast.

Public exhibition space and a hotel are among the potential uses to which the new structure could be put.